Return home with PTSD

"I knew what the normal was in Afghanistan. I knew what to look for. But for some reason those things were abnormal over here," young veteran Raquel Ramirez says, describing how her mind worked when she was speeding on a Californian freeway, having flashbacks about explosions in Afghanistan. She battled bravely against anxiety and anger since she returned from deployment with the U.S. Army in Kabul. It took her a year to recognize that her constant problems in civilian life were triggered by post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, a common condition affecting war veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Retired Major Linda Stanley returned home feeling empty, after nursing blown-up bodies of soldiers in Iraq, despite years of experience and coping skills learnt as a military nurse. She is worried about the hundreds of thousands of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. They are in danger of ending up homeless on the streets, like many Vietnam veterans, if society does not recognize their plight.

The reservists interviewed felt they hit the ground hard without support when they returned to civilian life. Despite briefings and knowledge about PTSD, it took time for all of them to recognize and accept their troubling condition at home. Many female veterans feel the ignorance from the public more keenly than males. Most Americans do not need to recognize that the country is at war. Female veterans feel that those who are aware often do not recognize that women serve as well as men.